Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence has concluded with “varying degrees of confidence,” that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons twice in its civil war, the White House and other top administration officials said yesterday.

However, officials also said more-definitive proof was needed and the U.S. was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria, despite President Barack Obama’s repeated assertion that Syria’s use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line.”

The White House disclosed the new intelligence yesterday in letters to two senators, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, traveling in the United Arab Emirates, also discussed it with reporters. The letters were sent in response to questions from members of Congress who are eager for the U.S. to arm the rebels or get involved militarily.

The Syrian civil war has dragged on for more than two years and killed an estimated 70,000 people.

“Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin,” the White House said in its letters.

Secretary of State John Kerry said there were two instances of chemical-weapons use. It was not clear what quantity might have been used, when or what casualties might have resulted. Hagel said many details were classified.

Sarin is an odorless nerve agent that can be used as a gas or a liquid. In large doses, sarin can cause convulsions, paralysis and death. People usually recover from small doses, which might cause confusion, nausea and vomiting.

The Aum Shinrikyo cult used sarin in an attack in the Tokyo subway system in 1995 that killed 12 people and sickened thousands.

U.S. officials made clear that a stepped-up U.S. response in Syria was not imminent.

A senior defense official said the White House letter was not an “automatic trigger” for policy decisions on the use of military force. The official alluded to past policy decisions that were based on what turned out to be flawed intelligence, such as the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq over weapons of mass destruction.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, “I think it’s pretty obvious that that red line has been crossed. Now, I hope the administration will consider what we have been recommending now for over two years of this bloodletting and massacre, and that is to provide a safe area for the opposition to operate, to establish a no-fly zone and provide weapons to people in the resistance who we trust.”

Officials wouldn’t say specifically what information they are lacking in order to determine conclusively that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government used chemical weapons. However, the White House letters emphasized a need for the completion of a stalled U.N. probe.

It’s unclear whether U.N. inspectors ever will be able to conduct a full investigation. The Syrian government has refused to allow them to go anywhere but Khan al-Assal, where Assad says rebels used the agents.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, said, “I am deeply concerned with reports that further confirmation of use may be outsourced to the United Nations. If Assad sees any equivocation on the red line, it will embolden his regime.”

A senior administration official said the U.S. was consulting with allies and looking for other ways to confirm the intelligence assessments.

Last month, Britain and France said the government used chemical weapons near Aleppo, in Homs and possibly in the capital of Damascus. This week, Israel and Qatar also said there was evidence Assad had used chemical weapons.

“The United States has vital national interests in Syria becoming a peaceful country,” Boehner said. “... It’s past time for the president to have a robust conversation with the Congress and the American people about how best to bring Assad’s tyranny to an end.”

Information from Dispatch Reporter Jack Torry was included in this story.